BUT FORMAZZA: Borgialli and Foerster win the 52 km

Twenty-eight-year-old Riccardo Borgialli and thirty-nine-year-old Basilia Foerster are the winners of the 2019 edition of BUT Formazza, the evocative high-altitude race that took place this morning in Val Formazza (VB) in the Piedmontese Alps.

Borgialli, originally from Lake Orta, triumphed in the 52 km of the BUT -Bettelmatt Trail in 6 hours 00 and 51 seconds, along an adrenaline-pumping route that exceeded 3000 meters and touched the Toce waterfall, with its jump of 143 meters, the highest in Europe.
8 hours 17 minutes and 23 seconds, however, for the first classified among women: the Italian-German Basilia Foerster.

In all, over a thousand participants, who came from 14 countries (in addition to Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Ecuador, France, Norway, Holland, Poland, Romania, San Marino, the United States, Switzerland) in the characteristic Walser village di Riale, for this spectacular competition that takes its name from Bettelmatt, the rare and prized mountain cheese that grows among the Piedmontese mountain pastures, on the border with Switzerland.

Alongside Borgialli, winner of the 52 km, the 35-year-old Cristian Minoggio from Cannobio (VB) won the 35 km Sky Race for the fifth consecutive year (sixth time in total), with a time of 3 hours 54 minutes and 11 seconds .
The 28-year-old Mauro Stoppini from Ossola, on the other hand, crossed the finish line of the 17.5 km Bettelmatt Race in 1 hour 31 minutes and 59 seconds with a vertical drop of about 880 metres.

Among the women, alongside Foerster who won the 52 km, the Romanian Mihaela Marinescu won the 35 km in 5 hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds, while the twenty-one-year-old Chiara Vanini crossed the finish line of the Bettelmatt Race in 1 hour 55 minutes and 25 seconds.

However, the great protagonist of this year was solidarity: for the three main competitions, one euro was allocated for each participant in Dynamo Camp, the non-profit organization that offers free Recreational Therapy programs to children aged 6 to 17 years. The proceeds from the 8 km Mini Trail, in which many families also took part, were donated as always to the family of Marco Bacher, a boy from Formazza who needs 24-hour assistance.

“Also this year Val Formazza proved to be a top-level competition, capable of combining sport, nature and entertainment – said Gianluca Barp, President of Formazza Event – We have grown by 15% with registrations compared to last year and we have involved over 1000 athletes from all over Italy and 14 countries around the world”.

“My presence here in Val Formazza is meant to represent the whole council to demonstrate that the Region is close to mountain issues. – comments the Regional Councilor for the Environment Matteo Marnati – In particular I want to thank the organizers of this beautiful event: a race of more than 50 km with a difference in altitude of about 3000 metres.It is essential to valorise the mountain areas that enhance open-air sports, without forgetting the great culinary art, such as the heroic Bettelmatt cheese from which the race takes its name, one of the treasures of this territory which attracts tourists from all over Europe.”

BUT Formazza is organized by Formazza Event and is part of the VCO Top Race Circuit.